Guide
by Anyssia
Summary: WIP, Slash, C/Z/S — "Nibelheim's reactor is due for a check-up and sixteen years old Cloud is hired to take the coming soldiers up the mountain."
1. Buster Sword

**Title**: Guide

**Author**: Anyssia

**Character/Pairing**: Cloud, Zack, Sephiroth, Vincent. Eventually, Cloud/Zack/Seph

**Fandom/Spoilers**: Final Fantasy VII, Meteor Crisis.

**Genre**: adventure, what-if, slash

**Disclaimer**: not mine or they certainly would never get out of my bed!

**Status**: ch1/?, 3790 words, 03/11/2009, beta'ed by Jameva and Lil_neko from LJ

**Other**: This fic is in fact a translation from a fic I originally began in my mother tongue, French. But as the FF7 French fandom is kind of dead, I decided to translate it and asked for help. Jameva and Lil_neko kindly accepted, and we worked on this one chapter for a week back and forth. So I hope you will enjoy their hard work, 'coz it was needed XD

**Summary**: Nibelheim's reactor is due for a check-up and sixteen years old Cloud is hired to take the coming soldiers up the mountain.

**Chapter 1 – Buster Sword**

Cloud sheathed his sword, uneasy. No matter how many times he patrolled around the reactor, the number of monsters still increased exponentially. And they had grown far too tough for Nibelheim monsters, without forgetting the fact that some of them had never even been seen around here before. If it went on that way, he was going to need some backup for this job. He had already had way too many close calls.

With a troubled sigh, the young man decided to head back to the village. It was getting late and he couldn't risk getting attacked on the trail with such low visibility. He didn't have a death-wish.

A glint on the ground caught his eye as he began walking and he quickly checked the area for any danger before kneeling in a vulnerable position. A sliver of metal.

Disillusioned, Cloud drew his sword halfway. Just as he had thought: the edge of his cheap blade, already in a sorry state, had just earned itself a new notch during his last battle.

He was soon going to have to buy a new weapon. A quick estimation of his savings confirmed that he still wasn't going to be able to afford anything worthwhile.

"Strife! Wait!"

Startled, Cloud found himself up and on his feet, ten paces back. His sword was fully drawn before his brain had a chance to recognize the voice as being that of a technician from the reactor.

The man frowned but didn't comment on his reaction. After all, this sixteen years old brat was the only fighter in this remote village that could protect the reactor with any relative amount of efficiency. The mountain was treacherous and the monsters even worse in this godforsaken, merciless place.

"We just got a message from ShinRa. They're sending a few soldiers for a check-up of the reactor. They'll arrive tonight and they'll need a guide. Book a couple of rooms at the inn for them and tomorrow you'll bring them here."

It was Cloud's turn to frown. ShinRa could send as many of its soldiers out in the middle of nowhere as they wanted, that was their problem, but he certainly wasn't going to babysit a few grunts for free.

He was perfectly aware that most of the scientists and technicians working at the reactor wouldn't have accepted this job if he hadn't been there to keep the local wildlife at a minimum. In these conditions, haggling over his reward was generally more profitable for him than for the angry workers.

The young man went back to the reactor, determined. With luck, he would earn enough money with this job to buy himself a stronger sword.

;;;

Cloud waited calmly at the weapons shop's counter; he had made good time in his descent and had managed to come in before closing time. He let his thoughts distract him, thinking back on the scientists' puzzling behavior. They had seemed nervous and intimidated when he had gone back to discuss and collect his bonus for this extra job.

The arrival of those soldiers troubled him as well, even though he maintained his usual tight hold over his emotions. He had given up on his dreams of SOLDIER and General Sephiroth and Midgar years ago now, ever since his mother's health had taken a turn for the worst when he was thirteen. He had buried deep all of his plans and hopes of escape and...

Anyway, working in the army wasn't his thing. Cloud had tried quite a few weapons ever since he had begun patrolling the area around the reactor to provide for his mother's needs and his own. His skills as a gunman had then proved to be more than nonexistent.

Cloud might be pretty good with a sword, but he would never have been enlisted in ShinRa's elite, the SOLDIER program, if he couldn't even prove himself in the regular army. Considering his talent for shooting at everything except his target, Cloud wasn't even sure he would have passed the entrance test for the cadet program.

The rhythmic, muffled thumps of shoe and cane announced the arrival of the old weapons blacksmith and pulled the young man from his musings. He silently chided himself for letting his unrealistic hopes distract him again. He had almost forgotten where he was. He couldn't lower his guard, even in this shop. While it wasn't a dangerous place, neither was it safe.

The whole village had never been safe for Cloud.

Pushing his gloomy thoughts away, he politely greeted the shopkeeper.

Old Sven, like most of the town's people, didn't even return his greeting and just frowned at him. Cloud met his blunt hostility with a carefully neutral expression. If he got him worked up, the old coot would certainly refuse to sell him anything. And Cloud obviously wouldn't receive any support from the other locals.

Determined to conclude this unpleasant business as quickly as possible, Cloud drew the basic sword that he had finally snapped in two clean pieces. He had nearly had a heart attack when it had broken against that last monster on his way back from the reactor. This time, purchasing a new weapon wouldn't be a luxury.

With the money he had pocketed earlier for his new job as guide, along with the loose change he would gain from selling the metal of his broken sword, he would finally be able to afford something sturdier and more efficient against Nibelheim's new monsters.

"I'll trade this broken blade for a hundred Gils and I'd like to buy the Buster sword at a thousand Gil. Please."

It wasn't the first time that he came to change his weapon, but being polite to this old geezer still rubbed him the wrong way, especially since he was perfectly aware that this damn scrooge accepted other travelers' broken weapons for five hundred Gil.

Despite his growing need to curse the blacksmith, Cloud held onto his neutral expression. He was lucky that the shopkeeper even agreed to buy back something the town's bastard had used.

"Two thousand."

His jaw dropping open, Cloud was struck speechless for a few seconds. His eyes strayed to the exposed blade, its price clearly visible, and went back to the shopkeeper.

"It's displayed at one thousand."

His heart hammered painfully against his chest and if he clenched his jaw much harder, he was going to crack a tooth.

"And I'm saying two thousand. If you're not happy, you can leave!"

Knowing he couldn't afford to make an enemy of the only weapons seller in the village, Cloud breathed deeply and quickly buried the seething anger that threatened to overcome him.

He very calmly put the requested amount of money on the counter and strapped his new sword on his back. At least the old bastard hadn't gone so far as to sell him the sword without its harness. He left the shop without another word and delicately closed the door.

If he hadn't controlled his movements, he probably would have broken the handle just by turning it.

;;;

With his head held low, Cloud hurriedly crossed the village square. He couldn't go back to his mother when he was this high-strung and the soldiers wouldn't arrive before nightfall, in at least another three hours. Besides, the sound of the supply truck, which was the only motorized vehicle that travelled these mountains, wouldn't go unnoticed.

The young man went left around the ShinRa mansion and smoothly climbed up the back gutter. The first floor's windows had all been boarded up for years now, but the last residents hadn't bothered to do the same thing upstairs.

For several years now, this abandoned building had become his new house. Cloud felt more at ease in these musty-smelling rooms, where monsters lived alongside termites, than with his own mother who spent most of her time sitting in her armchair in front of her window.

Ever since her illness had first begun showing symptoms, she had steadily lost her hold over reality with every day that passed and was now waiting for the man that had unconcernedly abandoned them years ago to come back to her.

Seeing his mother's health diminish a little more every day and bear the barely hidden hostility of the town's people had been too much for Cloud. One day he had taken shelter in the mansion to escape the bullies chasing after him and had had the pleasant surprise to discover that those cowards were too scared of the mansion's reputation of being haunted to follow him in.

Since then, he spent most of his free time and sometimes even his nights in the old house.

The various monsters living in the rooms were a good way to ease his anger and hone his fighting skills. He had even found his first sword here, an old rusted rapier from a display in the main room on which a substantial layer of dust had accumulated.

And when he was too tired to fight or when he was bored, the papers and books left here and there came in handy. Cloud didn't always understand everything – apparently, the mansion had been used as a laboratory before his birth – but he learned much more from these dusty tomes than he did at school where he was busy avoiding the treacherous attacks of his schoolmates instead of listening to the lessons of the old hag that masqueraded as a teacher.

Cloud carefully returned the rickety window to its original position, not wanting to damage the house any further than it already was by leaving it open to the elements, and quickly crossed the upper hall before entering one of the bedrooms. He meticulously cleaned every room of its dust and spider webs on a regular basis, so as not to betray his comings and goings. And this way, when he found himself knocked down during a fight, he was less at risk of being overcome by an ill-timed coughing fit.

The entrance to the secret passage that he had discovered in this room had also been oiled and well cared for. He used it often enough to appreciate being able to smoothly open the wall's section rather than needing to shove it open with a good few shoulder hits. He still remembered the bruises he had collected during his first visit, along with the twisted ankle he had gotten when one of the last worm-eaten steps had broken under his weight.

Cloud moved forward on the path, battered by time and deep-burying roots and with only the old Mako bulbs to light his way, and hesitated a moment to consider waking up Vincent. In the end he kept on going. The man might appreciate silence and have a gift for putting him at ease without needing to speak, but he shouldn't have to bear his bad mood tonight.

;;;

His new sword carefully lain on the desk, Cloud collapsed in the armchair. He tilted it back in a familiar move and kicked off his shoes before stretching out his legs. He was tense; he shouldn't let the people's behavior affect him after so many years. His feet settled near his weapon on the table, he breathed deeply and began the difficult task of relaxing.

One by one, starting with his feet and working his way up, he relaxed every muscle, letting go of the tension with a tired sigh.

The young man pushed away the bitter memory of his visit at the weapon shop with the force of habit. It was just another disappointment amongst many others. He had learned quickly enough that he couldn't change the villagers' attitude towards him.

However, he had better calm down before greeting the soldiers or else the meeting could go very wrong. He had no intention of being forced to reimburse money he had already spent because two or three irritable grunts had taken badly to his own foul mood. 

After a few minutes, Cloud got up and briefly surveyed the shelves crumbling under the weight of many books and diverse scientific texts before choosing one. He had read dozens of reports since he had discovered this place, and each was more appalling than the next.

Both rooms, floors included, had been strewn with papers when he had arrived. The fourteen years old boy that he was at the time had been disillusioned enough despite his youth to accept those horror stories as the truth without doubting them or being frightened.

He had spent hours sorting through all the pages before reading them. The reports alternated between printed texts and papers covered with a spidery scrawl that he had established to be Hojo's, the scientist responsible for the whole project. A real torturer, if one would ask his opinion.

Already victim of Sephiroth's fame at the time, the young boy had passed through every stage of horror, pity and comprehension when he had discovered the experimentations detailed by the mad scientist on his childhood idol.

At sixteen, Cloud had finally managed to rid himself of his girlish reactions. Still, he would have preferred fighting against twenty Nibel wolves rather than admit that his childish fascination had changed into a passion as potent as it was unspeakable. It was mortifying enough to know that a mountain-bred, outcast nobody like him dared harbor such feelings for the General.

A few years ago, before martial arts master Zangan had taken her under his wing, Cloud had thought himself in love with the Mayor's daughter, Tifa. But she had eventually left Nibelheim with her teacher and without her around, the fire of his passion had guttered out. Cloud had soon discovered that this short-lived infatuation had been nothing compared to the treacherous emotions that now awoke him with indecent dreams featuring a silver-haired man. Cloud didn't count anymore how many times he had cursed his hormones and crushed his lust by fighting monsters in the mountains or the mansion.

Anyway, reading those horror stories relaxed him, surprisingly so. Compared to what Sephiroth had had to endure, his own pathetic life was pretty easy. A few minutes spent with those reports always put things back in perspective and soothed his wrath against the villagers. More often than not, it was actually redirected against Hojo.

Vincent's steady support had been a great help as well.

Cloud had soon discovered Vincent's existence while exploring the underground. Actually, he had nearly jumped out of his skin when a golden claw had caught the coffin's lid and snapped it back shut.

After that, he had steered clear of that room for a long time.

However, a few weeks later, his curiosity – and boyish stupidity –had again taken him to the crypt. After some nagging, he had managed to learn that the corpse wasn't actually one – even if he should have died years ago – that he was named Vincent Valentine and that if he wasn't left in peace, Cloud was going to be thrown to the two-headed monster that haunted the crypt.

Thanks to that information, Cloud had quickly realized that the Turk used for the experimentations in the V project was really this Valentine, which more or less explained why he was still alive. More curious than ever, Cloud had gone back to the ex-Turk with a few questions based on vague details he had gleaned from the reports. Vincent had answered with a resigned sigh.

The memory of his enthusiastic request – "Can I see your limits, please? The Galian Beast seems really interesting!" – still made him blush shamefully every time he thought about it.

Once the first moment of surprise had passed – as much his as Vincent's; he still couldn't believe he had just blurted his thoughts that way – the man had simply ended the discussion by disappearing back in his coffin.

A few days later, Cloud had been surprised to see the ex-Turk settle in an armchair at his side and start leafing through a report silently. The man had never stayed long and had never talked more than was absolutely necessary, but Cloud had found himself tentatively thinking of him as his only friend.

With time and some urging, Vincent had finally caved and had confessed that he had been curious about this fearless kid that had dared disturb him more than once but had still known to leave him alone most of the time.

;;;

The sputtering roar of an engine and the metallic grinding of loose parts announced the arrival of the supply truck, shaking him out of his memories. In these mountains, the smallest sound echoed loudly and travelled far. Cloud could still perceive it faintly despite being deep in the mansion's basement.

Cloud meticulously put away the old account that he had been too absorbed in his thoughts to read and headed for the village entrance at a brisk pace.

He left his new sword in the mansion since he still had to get it ready for battle. It would be twice as effective against the though mountain monsters once he properly oiled and sharpened it, and besides, he couldn't risk getting on the soldiers' bad side by displaying his weapon. It would be out of place in a simple introduction meeting and with his luck, or rather his lack thereof, they would think he was provoking them or just simply being arrogant. It didn't help that the Buster Sword was neither inconspicuous nor particularly refined. It would take him a few days and a lot of training before being able to wield its massive shape with ease.

At least the bottom-of-the-line blades that he had possessed until now, with their terrible balance and hardly honed length, had still been of some use. He had barely felt the heavy weight of the Buster Sword when he had lifted it the first time, even if some of that strength could probably be attributed to the fury simmering in him at the time.

;;;

Cloud was at his post in the square's centre when the supply truck slowly drove in. The monsters had carved new marks in its sides since the last time he had seen it. The growing monster activity clearly wasn't only concentrated at the reactor.

The young man patiently waited for it to stop before approaching. The last thing he needed was to have the soldiers think that they could treat him like any other starry-eyed kid lucky enough to meet ShinRa soldiers.

He calmly greeted the first soldier in a regular blue uniform; just a trooper from the regular army, then. Why had the scientists been so nervous about a few grunts from Midgar? The second man that stepped out of the truck proudly wore the SOLDIER uniform and grinned at him by way of greeting.

Surprised, Cloud didn't have the time to return the gesture that he noticed the corner of a black leather garment snapping in the wind.

The man that next jumped out of the truck, graceful even in such simple a move, rendered him speechless. Sephiroth – the one and only, as real as the huge katana hanging from his waist – greeted him with a simple nod, his face blank.

Stunned, Cloud found himself gaping like a moron in front of a man he had only ever seen in exactly two pictures. One was from a recruitment poster for the army and the other showed him in hospital clothes when he must have been something like ten years-old. Cloud had found it wedged in one of Hojo's medical reports.

In both of them, Sephiroth already had had this blank face that Cloud assumed was his only protection against the mad scientist's ambitions.

However, this version in the flesh possessed something more. It wasn't something he could have described or shown. It was simply a feeling of peace. Relaxed was too strong a word, but for someone with the General's reputation, the fact that he wasn't standing at attention was clearly a clue.

A movement from the SOLDIER at Sephiroth's side sharply brought Cloud's attention back to the matter at hand. He watched attentively as the wild-haired man smoothly moved closer to the General and leaned towards him to whisper something with an amused smile.

Sephiroth answered with a single raised eyebrow. Cloud suddenly understood that the person responsible for the serene attitude now radiating from the one dubbed the Demon of Wutai was this charismatic SOLDIER.

Cloud quickly swallowed a genuine thank you directed at this unknown SOLDIER. He had gotten close enough to the stoic General to let him experience something aside from the scientists' cold interest and the crowds' fascination.

Cloud gathered himself and made sure that his expression was still neutral before walking toward the General.

"I'm sorry I stared, sir; I didn't know that you'd come in person."

Sephiroth simply nodded while the SOLDIER at his side gaped at Cloud in surprise. People probably behaved like kids when confronted with the famous General. But with all the reports he had read, Cloud almost felt like he knew him.

And anyway, he was far too proud and stubborn to squirm in front of the General, not with half of the village spying on them from the windows surrounding the square.

"I'm Cloud Strife. I'll be your guide to the reactor tomorrow morning. For now, I'll let the innkeeper know you're here so you can go rest."

Cloud met the eyes of all three soldiers – no need to scorn the regular soldier by ignoring him – and then calmly headed for the village's inn.

He could feel the curious eyes of the SOLDIER on his neck but he refused to let it unsettle him. He was used to having his every move scrutinized.

;;;

Nibelheim wasn't that big and the inn was nothing more than a two-story house with a few more rooms than usual. They quickly distributed the bedrooms and Cloud showed them where they could eat a somewhat decent meal before scheduling their departure from the inn at nine o'clock in the morning.

With a last glance to the General, he left and went back to his mother, hoping she would recognize him this time. For a while now, she had begun to think her little Cloud was still ten years old, making any interaction with her difficult.

And Cloud was perfectly aware that, despite his unconcerned behavior, his mind was running in circles and he wasn't going to sleep for quite some time this night.

To Be Continued


	2. To The Reactor

**Title**: Guide

**Author**: Anyssia

**Character/Pairing**: Cloud, Zack, Sephiroth, Vincent. Eventually, Cloud/Zack/Seph

**Fandom/Spoilers**: Final Fantasy VII, Meteor Crisis.

**Genre**: adventure, what-if, slash

**Disclaimer**: not mine or I would have killed Hojo a long time ago!!!

**Status**: ch2/?, 3886 words, 10/03/2009, beta'ed by Jameva.

**Summary**: Nibelheim's reactor is due for a check-up and sixteen years old Cloud is hired to take the coming soldiers up the mountain.

**Chapter 2 – **To The Reactor

Cloud was at the inn at nine o'clock sharp, unobtrusively taking a look at the ShinRa people's equipment. The trooper's weapon was, of course, the rifle, while Sephiroth wore Masamune at his side as if it were a part of his body. However, Cloud was stunned to discover that the SOLDIER actually used the same kind of blade as himself, although, unlike his own, it was a first-class Buster sword.

The heavy weight of the blond's new sword felt odd on his back. The shape and balance were definitively different from the blade he had broken the day before. But the hour spent this morning taking care of it in the mansion's underground hadn't been useless. A leather strip, stolen from one of the mansion's armors, was now wrapped around the handle to replace the threadbare piece of fabric that had been the original padding and the edge had been honed till it was razor-sharp.

The Buster's blade gleamed harshly despite the weak morning sun, announcing to all that he was ready to use it.

;;;

The villagers were still not very subtle as they spied on the departing party. The General and the SOLDIER didn't seem to mind, but the trooper was clearly ill at ease.

Cloud politely greeted them and motioned for them to follow. The others had most likely already been briefed, but he wasn't sure about the regular soldier.

"We'll have to go up the mountain on foot. There aren't any motorized vehicles here. The one you rode up here has already left and it's not due back before next week. And anyway, it isn't adapted for mountain trails."

Sephiroth was definitely a man of few words. Once again, his only answer was a silent nod. The SOLDIER at his side murmured something that sounded fond but a little wry, then looked up at Cloud with an open smile. Cheerfully crossing the few feet separating them, he gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.

At least, Cloud hoped it was friendly. He wasn't exactly used to this kind of behavior.

"Eh, there aren't a lot people that can use a sword like that without just cutting open their own foot!"

Before Cloud could decide if the man really was being friendly and, above all, what kind of reply was expected, he heard someone running behind him. He spun around, a heartbeat away from drawing his sword despite being still in the village. Even here, he never dropped his guard. He might not need his weapon to defend himself, but physical attacks weren't the only threats he had to contend with.

Nibelheim's self-designated photographer stopped abruptly when all the soldiers turned around like one to regard him. Holding his camera before him like a shield, he moved forward slowly, hesitated, stopped again and swallowed with difficulty.

The boy seemed to gather his courage, and then turned toward the General.

"Hum, General Sephiroth, sir, could you please let me take your picture, as a souvenir?"

Cloud barely held back a snort. A sidelong glance showed him that Sephiroth didn't seem to be overly interested either. He was looking away, pointedly ignoring his admirer.

"Cloud, could you..." Already unsure, the boy fell silent when the blond turned a harsh scowl on him.

Inwardly seething, Cloud quickly walked up to the General. He couldn't believe the brat had dared to ask him a favor. Did he really think he'd do it, just like when they'd had fun pushing him around before they'd had to change tactics because he'd grown too old?

He was so intent on keeping his expression composed that he almost missed the SOLDIER's request.

"Come on, Seph! It won't take more than a minute, we've got time!"

Stunned by the SOLDIER's carefree ways, Cloud found himself silently staring at the man. He shook himself out of his stupor when Sephiroth went past him to go stand at attention near his subordinate, obviously not caring at all for the photography. He was looking at the mansion and Cloud suddenly wondered if he was remembering something of his childhood there.

"Oy, Cloud!"

Caught by surprise, Cloud almost lashed out at the hand that had settled on his shoulder. He was fortunate that the SOLDIER simply tightened his hold strongly enough to make him wince. He couldn't even imagine what would have happened if he had actually raised a hand against a ShinRa representative.

The man didn't give him time to think. He dragged a bewildered Cloud along before happily pushing him between Sephiroth and himself.

"A photo, it's a great idea!"

"Really..." Cloud's less than enthusiastic answer didn't seem to deter the other man, who just added enthusiastically:

"Of course! Think of it as payment for this babysitting job!"

Cloud didn't have any reply to that. The cheerful face turned toward him, open and harmless, didn't deserve his bitter comments. Still, years of mistrust and verbal abuse were hard to ignore, and Cloud couldn't make himself relax. There had to be a catch. The SOLDIER probably wanted something from him, even if he couldn't determine what.

Shrugging resignedly, Cloud faced the camera and silently stared at the uneasy boy. The kid visibly hadn't expected this; he seemed to be searching for an excuse to take him out of the frame. But Cloud had the support of the SOLDIER and the boy couldn't exactly order him to get lost.

He was too used to keeping a blank face to be delighted at the brat's barely concealed anger, but Cloud couldn't wait to describe it to Vincent.

"Come on, Mister Photographer, we're ready!" exclaimed the SOLDIER, still smiling. He flung an arm across Cloud's shoulders and winked at him before facing the camera.

Ignoring the strange emotion he felt at being treated like a friend, Cloud barely refrained from rolling his eyes and got ready just in time to be blinded by a bright flash. Sephiroth immediately left the group and headed for the mountain path.

The other SOLDIER squeezed Cloud's shoulder again, though this time it was friendlier rather than forceful, and then went to ask the boy if he could drop off a few copies at the inn later. Oddly confused, Cloud watched him furtively before following the trooper and Sephiroth.

;;;

Cloud gave himself a shake after a few minutes and caught up with the General, who was already a few meters down the path out of the village.

"We'll need to be cautious. The monsters roaming the mountain became inexplicably dangerous these last years. And the path isn't safe more than half time."

"You seem very young to be that aware of the mountain's dangers."

Cloud realized with amazement that he hadn't heard the General's voice since he had arrived. It was deep, powerful and commanding, yet calm and carefully measured. A shiver travelled up his spine and he wondered if this was the reason why the man rarely spoke: people would be too captivated by the sound to pay attention to the words.

His words could have been insulting yet Cloud, despite his suspicious disposition, didn't feel threatened.

"I was hired as a guard by the reactor's staff two years ago. I know the area and the monsters well."

Cloud ducked quickly to the right, barely avoiding from hitting his sword against a jutting rock. This weapon wasn't only broader and heavier than his previous ones, but also longer. He thought of the various tracks he often used in the mountain, re-evaluating his stance on those trails while taking into account the boulders and dead trees he would now have to avoid.

"You got your Buster recently, didn't you?"

With a scathing retort on the tip of his tongue, Cloud whirled around to face the SOLDIER. He noticed absently that the trooper was at the rear, a few meters behind them, apparently unwilling of getting closer to the SOLDIER and less so of the General. He seemed nervous, his body tense and his rifle ready for battle.

"By the way, I'm Zack!"

Surprised by the good-humored tone, Cloud looked back to the first class SOLDIER without voicing his scathing remark.

The man – Zack, then – laughed lightly, apparently amused by his guide's reaction and continued with his one-sided conversation.

"You aren't really talkative, are you? Don't worry, I'm used to it, Seph's like that most of the time. So, about your sword?"

To his surprise, Cloud found himself hesitantly answering the chatty SOLDIER's numerous questions and remarks.

;;;

They walked for over an hour without encountering a single monster. Cloud began to feel nervous; the mountain was way too quiet.

Zack seemed to realize it as well, for he stopped making small talk, his bright eyes intently searching every shadow and possible hiding place around him. Sephiroth put his hand on his weapon, ready for any eventuality.

To Cloud's mixed relief, the party reached the main junction without being attacked. From this point on, they had no more than a few meters to walk before the narrow path widened considerably. They would be able to fight without risking injuring their own allies.

"Eh, Cloud?"

Lost in thoughts, Cloud didn't realize immediately that the others weren't following him anymore. He turned around to find them waiting at the forking paths, looking alternately at the bridge and their guide. Zack seemed puzzled, but Sephiroth was more interested in the bridge.

"Why aren't we crossing the..."

"That bridge isn't safe."

The General's confident statement surprised a quirked eyebrow from Cloud. Could the man really see, from at least ten meters away, that the ropes were too worn-down to hold any additional weight? The question quickly crossed Cloud's mind, before he remembered Hojo's experiments. No matter what the madman had done, it was very likely that the General's eyesight had been tampered with. He could probably see better than anybody.

In any case, Cloud knew he should have explained himself before arriving to the bridge. There was no way two SOLDIERs, especially not the General, would just follow him without asking questions.

"No, it isn't. That's why we need to go the roundabout way, before joining back with the path not too far away. The trail goes up for a while before becoming a natural bridge that crosses the ravine. It'll take us at least another hour to reach the reactor."

Zack glanced at Cloud with a pleased grin before tapping the other soldier on the shoulder as encouragement, then lengthened his stride to catch up with Sephiroth.

"Let's go then! The faster we get to this place, the faster I'll be able to taste that delicious stew the nice restaurant owner wrapped up for us this morning."

Cloud felt a lump settle in his throat at the idea that the villagers freely offered gifts to complete strangers while still treating one of their own like a pariah. He quickly chased the thought from his mind.

"Stay alert. The next few meters down the path are a perfect setting for an ambush and some of the monsters are smart enough to use it."

"The monsters here are this intelligent?" asked Sephiroth with a frown.

Being considered by the General himself as the most informed person at the time almost made Cloud nervous. He cursed his wayward hormones and resolutely ignored the excited butterflies that fluttered in his stomach.

"Yes, and more often than not, they're also the toughest and biggest ones. There's one in particular that..."

One moment he was answering the question, the next Cloud had turned around, his Buster sword instinctively slicing through the air. Though used to his own sharp reflexes, Cloud was still surprised when the other two SOLDIERs fell in step with him as quickly, their swords drawn and their attention on the scattered boulders.

A swift glance behind showed him that the trooper was covering their backs, his gun aimed at the shadowed cracks in the rock face. At least he had enough experience to know not to point his gun at his allies.

An oppressive silence settled over them. The absence of bird calls, insect chirps and other animal noises was making Cloud uneasy. He knew of only one monster that could scare regular animals and monsters alike into hiding.

Unnerved, Cloud inhaled deeply to steady himself and moved back a few steps. He needed to explain the situation to the others without alerting the monster with his voice. The gleam of naked blades in his peripheral vision reminded him that his comrades were experienced fighters. Cloud mentally shook himself, adjusting his hold on the Buster's hilt. The rough leather was warm against his skin and it had already molded itself to his palm, giving him a comfortable and sure grip.

"It's a Valron. They're resistant to Earth attacks and often use Gravity spells. Don't let it create a Barrier, they're almost unbreakable, and be wary of the Nibel Wolves, they often attack while the fighters are distracted by other monsters. The Valrons are about level thirty-five and..."

"Are you kidding?! They should barely exceed twenty!"

Cloud ground his teeth and ignored the SOLDIER's exclamation, as Sephiroth himself aimed an enquiring glance toward him. The young man was about to resume his battle stance when a sudden thought stopped him. With the help of two SOLDIERs and a good strategy, what should normally be a one hour fight could very well become a ten minutes scuffle.

His mind made up, Cloud signaled to his allies with a grunt.

"If you distract the Valron, I'll be able to finish it easily."

The short silence almost worried Cloud, but the General's next question nearly made him smile.

"Shouldn't you let us take care of this monster, if it is that dangerous?"

"I'm familiar with these monsters. Usually, I use the Wolves as distraction so I can take the Valron down more easily. I could let you do it, but the Valron's skin is as tough as a tortoise carapace and I know where to hit to kill it in a few moves." Cloud glanced down at his new Buster and corrected himself, "though with this sword, I probably won't need to hit it more than once."

Cloud felt the SOLDIERs behind him pause a moment and then Zack brushed against his shoulder with an almost inaudible "be careful". They moved away as one, advancing to meet the monster.

Cloud hunched on himself to keep his body language as unaggressive as possible and watched the two men walk forward confidently. Clearly, they'd remembered Cloud's remark about the path widening out farther away and were trying to reach that part for an easier fight.

The young man doubted that the Valron would let them get there, even if a wide area would also be an advantage for the flying monster. It had probably noticed their long swords and understood that it would be harder for the humans to fight in close quarters.

Suddenly, the monster pounced on them, attacking the two biggest threats first.

Cloud watched the SOLDIERs fight appreciatively. Their moves were quick and easy and they were visibly used to fighting together. Despite their weapons, inappropriate for this narrow terrain, they managed to manipulate the monster so as to make it show its back to Cloud.

The young man froze just as he was about to launch his attack and turned to a barely visible crevice just in time to repel the assault of a Nibel Wolf. A gunshot made him glance back and he saw the regular soldier, back to back with him, keeping the Wolves at bay with his long range weapon.

Cloud hesitated, as it wouldn't stop them for long, but decided not to waste time worrying for the trooper. He charged at the Valron, almost as if in Haste. The sooner he finished this one, the sooner they would be able to dispatch the Wolves.

Just in time. Distracted by the Nibel Wolves' attack, the flying monster was about to break out of the trap the SOLDIERs had set for it.

His sword ready and firmly gripped, Cloud jumped over the Valron, making the best of the monster's blind spot. He needed to hit it while still in the air or he would be shrugged off right away. Cloud struck with all his might at the monster's neck, using his momentum to add to the strength of the blow, hitting it between two hard... feathers or scales or whatever. He had never managed to guess what was what.

The Valron crashed to the ground with a brutal jerk and Cloud rolled off quickly, out of reach of the claws. He landed next to Zack and jumped up and back in fighting stance in an instant, positioning himself right next to the General.

The Buster sword gave his blows more strength, but he lost a lot of accuracy in exchange. He was going to need to adjust his fighting style. Even if his strike had hugely weakened the monster, it still hadn't finished it in one hit.

On his other side, Zack moved a few steps forward and signaled toward the regular soldier.

"I'm moving back to help him!" He sprinted past the Valron, easily dodging a sweep of deadly sharp claws without breaking stride.

"Distract it."

The General's order surprised Cloud and he lost his focus for a second, looking back at the man.

Just as quickly, the young man fell back in place and, after another jump to escape a sweeping paw, he threw himself to the left, luring the Valron toward him.

Cloud barely saw Sephiroth move, more a shadow of black leather and silver hair, and suddenly the Valron let out an aborted screech. The well-known Masamune, despite its frail appearance, wasn't any less deadly than a Buster. It went through the monster's neck with surprising ease, neatly slicing the vocal cord at the same time as the carotid artery. The man had noted the exact place that Cloud had designated as a weak point and hit it without fault.

Sephiroth jumped back smoothly to avoid the spray of blood and the monster slowly collapsed at their feet.

Cloud, as mesmerized by the blood dripping from the General's sword as by the man's calm attitude and strength, belatedly remembered the Nibel Wolves.

He spun around, his sword still at the ready, only to be greeted by Zack's triumphant expression. The other trooper also seemed in one piece apart from being breathless. He was retrieving the supply bags they had dropped down at few paces away.

Zack came back next to the General and Cloud with a bounce in his step and threw an arm across Cloud's shoulders:

"Tough wildlife you have here!"

Not knowing how to react to the enthusiastic gesture, Cloud just ignored it and answered with a shrug.

"The Valron is the worst one. They usually make themselves scarce."

"It probably saw our party as a threat to its territory," Sephiroth calmly explained, "Most monsters are sensitive to Mako and SOLDIERs are full of it. We attract most of the strongest monsters anywhere we go."

Several other monsters attacked the group during their trip, but none as dangerous as a Valron. And with two SOLDIERs, taking care of those lowly beasts was a breeze.

;;;

Cloud stayed silent for most of the hike, keeping busy by studying the fights and the ways Sephiroth and Zack attacked and defended, both together and separately. Their moves were unpredictable, smooth and strong, yet they did not put all of their strength behind every hit.

By the time they reached the reactor, Cloud felt like he had learned more during those two hours at their side than during his last two years of training alone against Nibelheim's monsters.

;;;

At the reactor, Cloud parted with the SOLDIERs and led the regular grunt to a flat rock near the building.

He ignored the scientists and technicians that rushed out to meet the General and closed his eyes. The monsters rarely came closer than five meters from the reactor, repelled by the Mako's smell. He took advantage of the break to breathe deeply and rest his body while the SOLDIERs went to take care of the reactor's problem.

TBC


	3. Intruder

**Title**: Guide

**Author**: Anyssia

**Character/Pairing**: Cloud, Zack, Sephiroth, Vincent. Eventually, Cloud/Zack/Seph

**Fandom/Spoilers**: Final Fantasy VII, Meteor Crisis.

**Genre**: adventure, what-if, slash

**Disclaimer**: not mine or I would have killed Hojo a long time ago!!!

**Status**: ch3/?, 3810 words, 03/02/2010, beta'ed by Jameva.

**Summary**: Nibelheim's reactor is due for a check-up and sixteen years old Cloud is hired to take the coming soldiers up the mountain.

* * *

**Chapter 3 – **Intruder

* * *

It was a boring and repetitive task, but cleaning his weapon always helped Cloud feel better. The familiar and mechanical motion allowed him to lose himself in his thoughts, ignoring everything except what he wanted to concentrate and reflect on, whether it was about the last monster he had fought or the last time his mother had forgotten his existence.

And tonight, Cloud definitively needed the peace and quiet to think.

Sephiroth's arrival in Nibelheim had been quite a surprise and Cloud had observed him as much as he could without being rude. His discreet study had revealed a silent and reserved man under the body armor, and while his mere presence could intimidate even the most confident people, he didn't seem to do it on purpose. Sephiroth didn't say much, but by paying more attention to his words than his reputation, Cloud had realized that the General wasn't cold and disdainful like people described him. He just didn't feel the need to make small talk and bow and scrape for every Tom, Dick and ShinRa.

Or maybe he simply didn't know how. After all, Cloud wasn't especially good at mingling with the population either. Nobody had been there to teach him when he was young and even if he now had a friend, Vincent wasn't exactly the talkative sort. Sephiroth probably didn't have much more experience with friends than himself, what with being raised in a lab by that bastard Hojo.

Except... This First Class SOLDIER seemed to know the General well and he certainly was friendly and easy-going enough for three.

Anyway, that was why Cloud hadn't known how to react when Sephiroth had stormed out of the reactor, violently brushing Zack off when he had ran to keep up with him and tried to talk.

The two men had immediately left for the village, neither of them paying any attention to Cloud or the private. Sephiroth had marched away without a backward glance, but Cloud had still managed to catch his expression. He had looked troubled and angry.

Cloud had exchanged a surprised glance with the grunt before hurrying to follow. At the speed they had walked, it had taken them barely an hour and a half to return to the village. And with the General – the most powerful fighter of their party – in such a mood, no monster had dared to approach them.

Zack had spent most of the trip trying to get Sephiroth to talk, but the man hadn't said a single word and had locked himself in his room as soon as they had gotten back to the village's inn.

Since he couldn't come up with an excuse to follow the soldiers, Cloud had slowly gone back to the mansion, worried. He had no way of finding out what had happened in the reactor. The entire zone was classified Top-Secret and he knew that they shouldn't even allow him to come so close to the building.

Once inside the underground lab, Cloud had unsheathed his sword, sat down and begun to clean it with passion.

;;;

So, here he was, ensconced in a large leather armchair, the Buster's blade so clean it glowed under the weak light of the old Mako bulbs, with the memories of this surprising morning still running circles in his head.

Clearly, Sephiroth had discovered something inside the reactor that had pushed him to a state of fury very barely under control. And Cloud wasn't an idiot. He might have never been inside the reactor, but Hojo's reports had hinted enough at the thing stored in its core. Cloud was pretty sure that Sephiroth's reaction and Hojo's experimentations were linked.

Of all the papers Cloud had found strewn across the lab's floor when he had first come in a few years ago, only a few of them didn't concern the Jenova project. Of course, he hadn't understood most of them at the time, not until Vincent came and helped decipher them.

The story of the Cetras and the Promised Land had kept him spellbound for months. The accounts of the battles against the Calamity From The Skies were closer to science fiction novels than to scientific reports.

"Interesting choice of sword... Who are you trying to impress?"

Cloud was so used to the ex-Turk's silent entrances that he didn't even jump. "You don't usually come out of your coffin just for a courtesy call. Did you have a nightmare?"

Answering with a silent, amused snort, Vincent smoothly sat down in the next armchair. "Your nervous pacing intrigued me. I'm curious to know what happened that made the unflappable Cloud feel the need to polish his sword in order to suppress his irritation."

"Careful Vincent, at this rate you're going to use up your daily word count in less than five minutes," mocked the young man.

The ex-Turk swept away his feigned concern with a broad hand gesture. "Go ahead. Tell me everything."

Dropping the idle banter, Cloud described the last couple of days to his inquisitive friend.

;;;

"What makes you think that the Jenova project has anything to do with the General's mood change?"

"Come on, it's obvious! I can't think of anything else in that reactor that could have disturbed him so much. And the old madman made enough references to the creature in his reports. I'm sure it's still in the core!"

Cloud gestured widely with his hand to add support to his theory and Vincent dodged it out of habit.

"Do you really believe that the thing in the reactor is an alien fallen from the sky?" the man inquired, his expression openly dubious.

"Uh. You know I studied all those documents really carefully," Cloud retorted. "I don't have his more recent research papers and Hojo may be a madman, but he's still a smart madman."

"What does it have to do with Jenova's origins?" Vincent asked, challenging Cloud's ideas so that he didn't get lost in his thoughts.

"It has to do with the fact that more than half the reports aren't about the subject's origins but its possible uses!" Cloud exclaimed. "Hojo didn't care whether Jenova really was an alien or an Ancient. All he cared about was the things he could use it for!"

Cloud took a deep, calming breath and focused on Vincent's actual question. Was Jenova really stored in Nibelheim's Mako reactor?

"You know as well as I do that he named the alien test subject Jenova," he reminded the ex-Turk. "And that Jenova thing, he did transport it to the reactor, I have at least three reports confirming it. If something had been transported back from the reactor since then, I would have heard about it. People aren't especially discreet here when they gossip. I'm sure it's still there."

Just like every time they had this conversation, Cloud was getting more and more riled up. He was convinced that he was right and nothing Vincent ever told him could make him change his mind.

"And before you say it, there are less than ten technicians in the reactor," Cloud added forcefully, "and I doubt any of them have the clearance to access Hojo's work. Otherwise they would have already gathered the reports stashed here, especially if they were working on the Jenova project!"

Knowing Cloud would stand his ground no matter what he said, Vincent sighed quietly.

"I always wonder whether your confidence comes from your knowledge and those reports, or from your intuition," the man confided with a smirk. "Alright, let's pretend I believe your theory. I do not like that the reports obviously link Jenova with project S, especially if the initial 'S' relates to Sephiroth."

Embarrassed but relieved that Vincent would let the matter rest, Cloud gave him a soft smile.

"I think..."

They both reacted instinctively, jumping to their feet and in combat stance with their weapons drawn, all in one move.

The mansion's main door screeched a second time, producing a loud and hair-rising sound. The old building vibrated and groaned when the door grinded closed and Cloud briefly wondered if it was finally going to fall on their heads.

He exchanged a look with the ex-Turk before they both moved near the laboratory's entrance, ready for anything.

The newcomer walked softly above them, barely making a sound despite the normally creaking floor. If the door hadn't been wedged shut by humidity and years of neglect to the point that it would need two strong men to open it, they could have thought it was only a child exploring the mansion.

In fact, if it hadn't been for the door's announcement and the pitiful state of the rotten floorboards, they probably wouldn't have known that somebody had entered the house at all.

Since none of the villagers ever dared go beyond the mansion's gates, it could only be one of the soldiers.

They could follow the man's progression across the first floor's rooms just by listening to the wood's groans, but he didn't seem to find anything of interest, his steps never stopping for long.

The man climbed up the main stairs, the second floor's even sorrier state making him easy to track as every single noise reverberated down the secret underground path. Cloud wondered if the hidden basement hadn't been purposefully built to carry sounds and alert the scientists of intruders, while congratulating himself for being so paranoid that he always closed the secret door behind him.

;;;

Something was bothering him, but he couldn't grasp what it could be. Cloud tried to pay more attention to the soldier's movements, but the more he concentrated, the more it eluded him.

Beside him, Vincent was also intently focused on their uninvited guest and kept the entry in his line of fire. He was still, his arm unmoving despite the surprising weight of his gun, Quicksilver, the one thing he had kept with him when he had closed the lid of his coffin.

The stranger was still moving through the upstair rooms, slowly, as if he was studying something...

"My footsteps! He's following my trail!" Cloud blurted out incredulously.

Vincent raised an eyebrow, surprised.

"I thought that you regularly swept up both floors to avoid just this kind of problem?"

"Yes, I do. And I did it again recently, there shouldn't be enough dust yet to..."

Cloud trailed off, his face brightening with excitement. "I bet a SOLDIER could still follow me! Think about it. They can probably see the path where the rotten floorboards have sagged under my weight. I know I've walked pretty much everywhere in the mansion, but I still come here more often than anywhere else."

Vincent opened his mouth to express his doubts but changed his mind. They could hear the footsteps even more clearly, the sound reverberating better now that the unknown man had come back to the room with the secret passage. He was moving toward the sliding wall.

It was clear this time that the stranger had realized something was wrong in the room. It was only a matter of time before he triggered the mechanism. If it really was one of the SOLDIERs – and Cloud didn't believe a moment that the trooper would have decided to go sightseeing – then they were certainly smart enough to find the way in.

Cloud slowly lowered his weapon. If he was right, he shouldn't greet a SOLDIER with a raised weapon, especially not in a building owned by ShinRa. A building he had been using as he pleased.

He jumped and glanced around himself, suddenly realizing how many things he had moved and used for anything but their intended purposes.

The underground laboratory was in fact consisted of two rooms linked by a narrow and open hallway. The secret passage between the house and the facilities led to the main room, where the research equipment was kept. There were also two Mako tanks wedged in a corner that had actually made him uneasy when he had discovered the place. He had quickly covered them with sheets stolen from the upstair bedrooms.

It was also in this room that he had found Hojo's reports spread out all over the place, desk and floor alike, especially the most important ones about both the Jenova project and the S project.

Cloud still didn't understand why Hojo had left everything in this state, without taking the time to properly file the reports away from prying eyes. Maybe he had planned to come back soon? Anyway, Cloud would probably never know the answer to that question.

Beyond the short hallway on the left was the office, also used as a records room. Apart from the ones strewn all over the place, most of the reports and other documents about experiments and scientific theories were filed here. The shelves lining the first room's walls were full of books on biology and other various subjects, even geology.

At the time, Cloud had first cleaned up the main room. He had filed away all the documents and reports back in the office and left the books, most of which he didn't understand, in the first room, using it as a library.

There was also an operating table next to the Mako tanks on which he now left his weapons and cleaning supplies. Cloud liked to imagine how Hojo would react if he saw him using his precious equipment for something so mundane. He found it quite ironic and entertaining.

Cloud still hadn't managed to decide what to do when they heard the intruder walking down the secret passage. He looked at Vincent and they both moved back slowly and silently until they were in the clear area in the center of the library.

Sephiroth calmly walked in.

;;;

The General slowly looked around the room, stopping a few seconds to stare at the two men facing him, then going back to inspect the walls and their shelves, the rounded forms in the corner and at last, the table.

Cloud was already lowering his weapon when something in the man's eyes stopped him.

Sephiroth moved toward the operating table, brushed the very tip of his fingers on it and jerked them away as if burned, a shudder of disgust skimming over his flesh. He closed his eyes and clutched his head with a shaking hand, tilting it as if to listen to something that neither Cloud nor Vincent could perceive.

The General raised his head again and gazed at the library.

"I know this room..."

"Er..." Cloud didn't know what to say. He couldn't really just go and tell him, 'Oh, of course you do, you were designed in here by a mad scientist.'

Definitively not a good idea.

Thankfully, the man didn't seem to need his input.

Sephiroth frowned and closed his eyes again. He lifted his hand back to his head slowly, his face tensing in sudden and fierce pain.

Cloud watched with apprehension as the General violently grasped his head, his fingers burying themselves like claws in his hair. The man fell to his knees suddenly and tightened his hands in fists hard enough to pull out quite a few silver hairs. They could hear him whisper strings of words and sounds too low for them to understand.

It felt like hours passed and yet neither Vincent nor Cloud dared to move.

The young man could feel his fingers stiffen even tighter on the hilt of his sword, his muscles burning from the forced stillness. He was nervous, the leather of the hilt slipping from his sweaty palms so that he had to tighten his grip even more. He wasn't going to be able to keep this up much longer.

Besides, Cloud wasn't used to the Buster's weight and he hadn't yet developed the extra muscle mass to wield it for a long time without exerting himself.

He was going to be so stiff tomorrow.

Cloud shifted his position slowly, trying to relieve some of the strain from his shoulder. He barely had time to turn his head that Sephiroth had already jumped back, one hand pressed against his temple with Masamune ready to fight in the other.

Petrified and scared, Cloud wondered how long he would manage to hold his breath. He knew that if a fight broke out, the odds were that Sephiroth would get the upper hand, even against the both of them.

Sephiroth was still muttering to himself on the other side of the room. When he unexpectedly froze with a faraway look in his eyes, Cloud decided that maybe it was time to freak out.

;;;

Time crawled by and a deafening silence settled over them, heavy with consequences and bad omens.

Sephiroth whirled around suddenly, very much alert and completely ignoring the other two men. He strode across the room, ripped off the sheets covering the Mako tanks and snarled. Furiously swinging his katana in a wide arc, he hit one of the tanks with enough strength to crack the thick glass. It rang, high and long, until Cloud could feel it down to his bones.

The General turned around again and strode up to Cloud, almost pressing against the young man as he towered over him with a hard and menacing glare.

"This is a laboratory. Where are the reports?" he ordered more than asked, his words a thinly veiled threat in case they foolishly decided to oppose him.

Cloud didn't waste time doubting his instincts and hesitating.

"Just ask me, I read them all. I know everything about the Jenova and Sephiroth projects," he babbled. In his current state, the General was going to interpret it all wrong!

"I want them! Now!"

With such severe, unpredictable mood swings, Sephiroth was behaving more like a madman or a child throwing a temper tantrum than the imperturbable General of ShinRa's Army that Cloud had met the day before.

At least, that is what he would have been thinking if he had had time to react after the man hollered in his face. Too fast for his eyes to follow, Sephiroth grabbed him and threw him at the wall, then swung Masamune toward Vincent.

;;;

Cloud barely had time to see Vincent block Masamune with his metallic claw, creating a shower of sparks, before he crashed against the stone wall. His vision blackened for a moment but he managed to drag himself along the wall, taking shelter behind an armchair so he could catch his breath.

He pulled his Buster closer to his body, his muscles so cramped his hands hadn't let go of the hilt despite the brutal impact. He inhaled deeply to shake off the last echoes ringing in his ears then jumped out of his hiding spot. He took place in the center of the hallway connecting the two rooms, his weapon raised and steady before him, ready to defend the reports.

Of Vincent's and Sephiroth's fight, he only saw sparks and blurs. He hadn't heard a gunshot yet and guessed that it was as much to spare Sephiroth as to avoid the hazards of shooting in such close quarters.

If only they could draw Sephiroth to the corridor, then he wouldn't be able to effectively use his monstrous sword, even if Cloud would end up being penalized as well.

Cloud quickly wiped the sweat dripping in his eyes and dashed forward. He rushed toward the center of the room and swung his sword in a wide arc, counting on Vincent's ability to dodge the blow. Moving immediately, he jumped back just in time to avoid being slashed and met Sephiroth's eyes. If he faltered now, he was dead.

He could only pray that Vincent had understood his strategy and that Sephiroth was too far gone to do so as well.

It wasn't hard to pretend that he was too weak to fight back and that he was losing ground as he was way too busy defending himself to even dream of going on the offense. He didn't have any choice but to retreat against the General's formidable attacks.

On his other side, Vincent was landing hard blows but Sephiroth didn't even seem to notice the damage. He was too determined to get through Cloud first, as if he had guessed or decided that the reports were in the room behind the young man.

Although his throbbing body made it feel like forever, Cloud quickly found himself in the hall's entrance. Unable to really move his sword in the narrow passage, his only option was to jump back and hope that Sephiroth would fall for his improvised trap. He barely leaped out of the way of another slash, ending slightly outside the corridor, and he realized his mistake while he was still moving. He had lost his balance, his sword was still in the passage so that he couldn't twist it to counter and Sephiroth was getting ready to simply impale him.

Frantic, Cloud let go of his sword mid-jump, every muscle burning in protest, and extended his arm to push back against the wall to try and change his trajectory and avoid the blade. He couldn't breathe anymore and sweat was dripping from his forehead, stinging his eyes and blurring his vision and the General's outline was no more than a shadow of silver hair and black leather, with two green and fanatical eyes riveted on him.

He stretched his fingers in a desperate move to reach the wall, but it was too late. He didn't have enough momentum to push himself off in the opposite direction before the katana hit him, his arm was too short anyway and he felt only the wall's cold stones as the tip of his fingers grazed against the rough blocks and the dust was going to penetrate his wounds and it had been such a bad idea and...

His sense of balance shot to hell, Cloud brutally fell back on the floor, his feet painfully wedged under his body. Instinct made him jerk a hand up to his head to protect it from the blow and his ears rang from the loud clatter of the Buster hitting the floor. He felt as if he had been falling for hours. His back was killing him, his legs were still bent, the dead weight on his thighs was not helping and...

Stunned, Cloud slowly lowered his head and stared at the spill of silver hair covering his chest. Sephiroth was sprawled half on the floor, half on him, Masamune dropped less than a meter from his outstretched hand. Standing before him was Vincent, his claw arm still raised and holding his gun, butt part first. He had taken advantage of the General's blind rage to knock him senseless from behind, using all the strength of the metallic arm added and enhanced by Hojo.

Cloud doubted that Sephiroth would wake up any time soon.

TBC

* * *

Again, this chapter took some time and I can already tell you that the next one won't be out before at least a couple of months, as I'm in the middle of a huge change of life.

I had to move once to Paris for training and, for April, I'll have to move again. Thankfully, after a week, I gave in and brought a laptop, as I couldn't very well stuff my desktop computer and it's 22" screen in my suitcases XD So I can still write even if can't much surf the web and so exchange with my beta-reader ;p

As for the final move... I lived in Brittany and now I will have to settle in Haute-Savoie. Which means: mountains!!! O.ô Oh my God, mountains...

I always lived in Brittany, which has the Montagnes Noires (Black Mountains) and Monts d'Arrée but those are pretty low mountains (the highest point is in the Monts d'Arrée: 385 meters/1270 ft.).

Now I'll be living at the foot of the Mont Blanc, which is 4,808 metres/15,774 ft. Again, I repeat, Oh. My. God.

That said, there is also the fact that I'll have to find a new apartment, I've got a new job as tax collector (yes, it seems so evil but it's not that bad ;p ), I'm living all my family/friends/pets/whole life behind, and so on and so forth. I hope it won't be too bad...


	4. Project J

**Title**: Guide

**Author**: Anyssia

**Character**/Pairing: Cloud, Zack, Sephiroth, Vincent. Eventually, Cloud/Zack/Seph

**Fandom**/Spoilers: Final Fantasy VII, Meteor Crisis.

**Genre**: adventure, what-if, slash

**Disclaimer**: not mine or I would have killed Hojo a long time ago!

**Status**: ch4/?, 1'800 words, 09/21/2010

**Beta**(s): Kage Kaze Kitsune, Mikiri's Revenge, aquila333, Reader in the Corner, VessaMorana and Jameva. And thank you so much, all of you. I wouldn't have made it, if it hadn't be for your help! ;p All remaining mistakes are mine.

**Summary**: Nibelheim's reactor is due for a check-up and sixteen years old Cloud is hired to take the coming soldiers up the mountain.

**Author's note**: as I don't seem to be able to publish more than one 4'000 words chapter per year, I've decided to shorten them and hope that it will make the task less daunting ;p

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Project J**

**

* * *

**

Cloud glared at the brown recliner customized with heavy, reinforced straps inherited from Hojo. After the Mako tanks and the operating table, it was the piece of furniture he hated the most. He could still distinguish numerous old, dried and dark bloodstains on the leather of the bonds.

However, if they took into account Sephiroth's strength and recent behavior, this blasted armchair was their best chance. They didn't have many solutions, if they wanted to keep this conversation on the nonviolent side. Better to be safe than sorry.

Vincent's voice jerked him out of his grim thoughts. "Stop grumbling in the corner and help me get the reports organized."

Sheepish, Cloud walked back to the main desk, currently buried under tons of loose sheets of paper and various files. "Still, I'd really like to know how the General knew about the reports."

The ex-Turk shrugged. "You said it yourself, Hojo is well-organized. Sephiroth isn't a new recruit; he probably made enquiries about the town and reactor before leaving for this mission."

Vincent frowned, rummaging through the papers. It took him a minute, but he finally found what he was searching for and turned back towards Cloud. The young man really knew him too well. He was patiently waiting for the ex-Turk to explain his theory.

"Sephiroth will have learned about the ShinRa mansion and the fact that it had been used by Hojo and his team of scientists twenty years ago. After that, the connection is easy to make."

"Hmm. If you say so," Cloud muttered disbelievingly.

The young man hesitated, another question bothering him a little. "Don't you think he was acting... strangely?"

Curious, Vincent glanced at Sephiroth. The SOLDIER was still unconscious and unaware that they had restrained him in the medical recliner, and Vincent wasn't in a hurry to see his reaction at this insult. "Well, you tell me, I'd never met him before." He trailed off, but a look at Cloud's aggravated expression prompted him to say more. "Still, he did seem... different from the way the newspapers portrayed him."

The young man snorted and waved his hand insistently. "Different? Totally mad, you mean! During the entire time I spent with him yesterday, he was calm and composed, thoroughly imperturbable."

Confused and nervous, Cloud ran a shaking hand through his hair.

They both fell silent, remembering the last incident and trying to make sense of this mess. It was obvious that the General hadn't been behaving normally, yet his body didn't bear any of the usual seals left after a Confuse spell. Also, Cloud had trouble believing that there even existed a monster powerful enough to try to overcome the great General with a mental spell without his being able to counter it.

Anyway, the man wasn't behaving like a Confused victim. He was coherent and focused on his goal, whatever that was, and could move and fight just as well as always. His downfall had been his single-mindedness. If Vincent hadn't smacked him while he was so concentrated on Cloud, who knew what could have happened…

This incident left only one explanation.

"He must have seen something up there that made him so furious. And I'm sure it has something to do with this Jenova creature! I bet she's still contained in the reactor!"

Vincent almost rolled his eyes at the boy's stubbornness, but refrained. He shrugged instead and stayed silent. Cloud might be working on instinct only, but he usually had a good intuition.

For now, he could work with the crazy theory that a million years old alien, used as rat lab by the creepiest human in the history of humankind, was trying to take over the strongest man that he had ever heard of.

Or at least, that was what Cloud believed. He wasn't sure why the young man was so fixated with that idea. Vincent had tried to suggest other theories and to show him how questionable Cloud's arguments were. Nothing had changed the boy's mind and the ex-Turk wasn't sure what to think of this.

Anyway, it didn't mean that he had to believe the boy's crazy idea.

Except that Vincent was aware that he ought to know what Hojo was capable of.

"What makes you think that Sephiroth was here for those particular reports?" Vincent insisted after a moment of silence. "The files stocked in this lab refer to at least five different experiments."

Cloud threw him an exasperated glare. "Are you this aggravating by nature or do I have Hojo to thank for your pig-headedness?" he scoffed even as he was having trouble hiding his smile.

"Oh, don't worry, it's only one of my many virtues," the ex-Turk retorted very seriously.

Cloud's bright and spontaneous laugh made him smile softly. The boy didn't laugh nearly as much as he should, despite Vincent's best efforts. Thankfully, the ex-Turk had patience in spades. If his dark humor managed to lighten Cloud's mood, then he wasn't going to censor himself.

;;;

Sephiroth woke up far earlier than Cloud had predicted. Vincent and him hadn't even managed to gather together all the files related to the Jenova project when a strange feeling pushed Cloud to turn around just as Vincent tensed beside him.

"You've got some guts. And luck. You are very lucky, or I would have killed you both a long time ago, you cowards!"

Surprised, Cloud frowned. The man's arrogant tone felt even more out of place than his earlier hysterical behavior. From what he had seen the day before – and what he had read – he would never have thought that Sephiroth could behave like such a prick. Even his body language felt wrong, as if the General didn't really know how to act the part. How the SOLDIER managed to look down on them while being restrained to an armchair was a mystery.

That said Cloud certainly wasn't going to let a neutralized man intimidate him, even though he was aware that the straps wouldn't hold Sephiroth forever.

"How are you feeling, General?"

The man's only answer was a strangled sound, torn between anger and stupefaction. Vincent just raised an eyebrow.

Cloud calmly grabbed another chair and sat down at the table, taking care to stay out of reach. Sephiroth might be tied down as tightly as they could manage, but it was best to be cautious. Although, he was pretty sure there wouldn't be enough left of him to worry if the General did break free and catch him.

Following Cloud's lead, Vincent sat down in front of Sephiroth and took over the conversation. "Please forgive our rude manners, but you were quite... unreasonable when you came in."

;;;

Sephiroth didn't know how to react. These two nobodies were standing up to him, the one General who could scare even the most hardened soldiers. Well, except for Zackary Fair, of course.

They might deserve a little respect.

Sephiroth shook his head, trying to get rid of the annoying and painful buzzing that seemed to come from the back of his mind. He remembered now that it had begun in the reactor and almost felt as if it were taking over his thoughts. He couldn't concentrate long enough to remember the details of what had happened once they had reached the reactor but what he did recall was more than worrying.

It was high time that he pulled himself together. The boy was correct; he was acting like a madman.

;;;

Cloud had to take a deep breath to keep from sighing in relief as he watched the General change from raving to the calm and controlled man that he had been the day before.

Could he simply be schizophrenic?

"So... When you... ah, well, barged in, you asked for the reports," Cloud stammered, trying to get his mind back on track. He gestured to the shelves without taking his eyes off the SOLDIER. "Do you know which ones you wanted? Because we separated them by subject and there are at least five different experiments described in these files."

Sephiroth closed his eyes for a moment before answering in a carefully neutral voice. "In the reactor, I saw a reference to a specimen called Jenova. Is there any mention of it in those files?"

Cloud threw a smug glance at Vincent, not even trying to hide his very obvious 'I told you so' expression, and pointed at the pile of reports on the table.

"I thought so. Well, here are all the files that mention in any way the Project J, which is stored in Nibelheim's reactor."

"Project J?"

"Yes. That's how Hojo refers to the creature."

Cloud hesitated a second, looking at Vincent for support. The more details Sephiroth had, the easier it would be for him to sort out the false information from the true and to believe them.

Vincent crossed his arms, which for him was effectively rolling his eyes in exasperation, and completed the boy's explanation. "Hojo likes to assign an initial as reference for his projects. I myself am Project V and we believe that you are Project S. And if our assumptions are correct, Jenova was Project J."

"Project S?" Sephiroth repeated, disconcerted. "That crazy old man left reports about me here?" he asked Cloud. The boy seemed ready to vibrate out of his chair, keeping his mouth shut with difficulty.

"Yeah. From what I read, you were... well, created," Cloud explained with a grimace. It was a pretty insensitive way of putting it, but it was the truth, and Cloud wasn't a big fan of sugarcoating reality. "The first experiments Hojo conducted on you were done here, while you were still in your biological mother's belly."

A heavy silence settled on the room after Cloud's declaration. For the first time since he had woken up, the General clearly showed his rage. That, more than anything, scared Cloud so badly that he almost gave up and ran to safety. For a moment, he believed that Sephiroth would simply wrench off his bonds with brute strength and gut them with his bare hands.

;;;

Aware that he was very close to losing his composure, Sephiroth took several deep breaths, even closing his eyes for a moment. Showing sign of vulnerability was contrary to his nature, but he had to take a moment or he would do something irreparable.

The annoying buzz from earlier came back with a vengeance and he felt his self-control slipping once again. He wanted to kill them both, to strangle, dismember, and destroy. To listen to their pleas and cries and...

Sephiroth swallowed back his anger and focused on Strife. He looked terrified but sincere, and for whatever reason, Sephiroth wanted to believe him.

Better that than pointless slaughter, anyway. If there was anyone he really needed to kill, it would be Hojo, not a mountain boy who had never tortured and killed a human being like the good professor had done numerous times.

TBC

* * *

There! Finally! Sorry for the long wait, this year has been crazy. But now I'm settled, and I even have the chapters written up to the 8th! They just need to be beta-ed (which takes more time than to write them: 3 weeks for this one ;p )

So what do you think of it?


	5. An Unbelievable Tale

**Title**: Guide

**Author**: Anyssia

**Character**/Pairing: Cloud, Zack, Sephiroth, Vincent. Eventually, Cloud/Zack/Seph

**Fandom**/Spoilers: Final Fantasy VII, Meteor Crisis.

**Genre**: adventure, what-if, slash

**Disclaimer**: not mine or I would have killed Hojo a long time ago!

**Status**: ch5/?, 1'900 words, 10/09/2010

**Rating**: no violence, G

**Beta** (s): Reader in the Corner, Kage Kaze Kitsune, VessaMorana and Jameva. All remaining mistakes are mine.

**Summary**: Nibelheim's reactor is due for a check-up and sixteen years old Cloud is hired to take the coming soldiers up the mountain.

**

* * *

Chapter 5 – An Unbelievable Tale

* * *

**

_Taming the muse: prompt #219 – Rune Stone (Gnah, I hated this one...)_

_Previously, in chapter 4: _

"_[...] The annoying buzz from earlier came back with a vengeance and he felt his self-control slipping once again. He wanted to kill them both, to strangle, dismember, and destroy. To listen to their pleas and cries and..._

_Sephiroth swallowed back his anger and focused on Strife. He looked terrified but sincere, and for whatever reason, Sephiroth wanted to believe him. [...]"

* * *

_

"If you are interested, we gathered all the files referring to Project S." Vincent's quiet voice resonated in the silent room. Cloud held his breath without realizing it.

After a moment, the General turned to the ex-Turk. Cloud almost passed out from relief. The man had been staring at him so intently that Cloud had been afraid to even blink. He could still feel those piercing eyes on him.

Cloud nearly groaned when he realized that his body, at least, had liked being stared at by the General. This certainly wasn't helping him get rid of his old crush.

He was so going to embarrass himself before long!

Sephiroth's face was pinched and he seemed to have the mother of all migraines, but he still managed to look as if he was in his office back in Midgar, waiting for them to go ahead with their report.

At least, that's how Cloud imagined it.

Feeling very foolish and inexperienced, Cloud slid to the edge of his chair and took over the conversation.

"Yeah, all the files are there," he repeated, pointing at a couple of metallic boxes stacked next to the door. "I guess Hojo didn't want to bother with all those papers and boxes and only took the data disks with him."

Sephiroth glared murder at them for a second and Cloud couldn't help but gape at the man's expression. Up until now, it had been very obvious that the General was forcing himself to keep a neutral facade. To see him be so open with his emotions was... startling, to say the least.

"You said that Hojo first began to experiment on me when I was still a fetus in my... ah, surrogate mother, if I remember correctly. Are you saying that I was raised in this mansion?"

Cloud jumped nervously when Sephiroth brusquely turned back to him and could almost feel the heat radiate from his cheeks. "Not... Not in the mansion. Here really. In this room, I mean," he stammered, blushing even harder, mortified by his own humiliating behavior. He was probably acting like one of those star-struck idiots that he despised. "The reports never mentioned you being allowed out of here, before the lab was moved to Midgar."

"So I was locked up in this basement..."

"Yes, not that it really matters," Cloud added as an afterthought. Sephiroth's hard stare convinced him to elaborate quickly. "From what I read, I think that you spent most of your time sedated. It explains why you have no memories of growing up here."

"You really think that Hojo would keep a child sedated for years?" Sephiroth asked with skeptically. "Not that I don't think him capable of it, but sedating someone over a long period of time is very dangerous for their health. He wouldn't risk losing his prize subject or rendering it a vegetable."

Aware that the man was growing a little too jumpy again, Vincent took over the explanation. "What makes you think that you were so precious to him? This way, he didn't have to take care of you, especially as this was a secret experiment. The underground laboratory might be well hidden and isolated from the town, but sooner or later, cries would have been heard or you would have escaped. Children are very good at that. Hojo couldn't risk it."

Sephiroth gave up any pretence of calm as soon as the ex-Turk began talking and Cloud started to wonder if those two were going to come to blows right in front of him, the fact that Sephiroth was still tied down notwithstanding.

"Of course, I'm valuable to him! He tells me so often enough!" Sephiroth spat with a harsh glare.

"Now, maybe. He has spent years on you, he can't afford to have you go your own way anymore," Vincent answered with a shrug. "But at the time, he had been working on you for what, three, five years? He could have started over again if the sedatives had damaged your mind. He did it often enough," he added with a disgusted sneer.

Sephiroth stared at him for a moment, his neutral mask back, before turning back to Cloud, ordering him to explain with a single raised eyebrow.

Cloud hesitated, looking back at Vincent's tense profile. "We found... reports, from previous experiments," he explained slowly, staring at the floor. These particular files had given him nightmares for weeks afterward. Still did, in fact. "You... weren't his first attempt at raising a child for this project."

A heavy silence followed his words and none of them were in a hurry to speak again. Vincent was studying the wall and Sephiroth was glaring murder at the straps securing him to the chair.

Cloud felt ill at the memory, again. He was only thankful that whatever was left from those experiments had been cleaned up and that he hadn't found any remains during his explorations.

Sephiroth broke the silence with a short, derisory laugh. "Unfortunately, knowing Hojo, it wouldn't surprise me if this was the truth."

;;;

Surprised by Sephiroth's bitterness, Cloud stayed silent for a moment. He spared a glance at Vincent, but the ex-Turk seemed lost in his own thoughts.

Cloud didn't feel like taking control of the conversation, for once. He scratched at a flake of old paint on his chair and sneaked a peek at the General from under his bangs.

The man was just as pensive, probably trying to decide if they were telling the truth. Or else he was trying to remember his time as a child in a lab under the thumb of a madman. Heck, for all Cloud knew, the General was imagining an appropriate epitaph for Hojo's grave, complete with runestone on top and offerings littering the ground.

"What was the Jenova project about?"

Once again, Cloud jumped at the unexpected question. He could feel his face heat from another expansive blush. His own inattention was getting more embarrassing by the minute and he couldn't believe the impression he was probably making on the General.

He was acting like a back-water child who couldn't even handle sitting in the same room as the man without becoming more nervous than a wolf during mating season.

"Hojo didn't appear to be very objective and neutral in his work," he began, talking slowly. This was the great General who trusted him to answer his question. He had to be thorough and clear.

Oh Gaia, this was his first report, to Sephiroth himself!

And again with the blush. Cloud could feel the heat slowly spread to his neck and he cleared his throat. Back to the subject. Now. He was currently the resident expert on Hojo's early work; he had to act professionally!

"I have read every file in this room, even those Hojo had hidden away. It took me a while to put them back in order, as Hojo seems to have left in a hurry, abandoning his papers all over the place."

"Hojo would never leave a paper lying around. He is much too paranoid," Sephiroth interrupted him with a raised eyebrow.

"I know. Well, I don't know, but I guess," Cloud answered with a shrug. "Based on what I heard from the villagers and his personal remarks noted in the margins, it seemed strange to me too that he would leave everything like that. That's why I think it was staged."

"Staged?"

"Yes," Cloud replied immediately. This, he knew. He had had enough time to think about all of this. "The reports left in the room weren't random. There was a point to this mess, and I'm pretty sure that you were supposed to read them."

"Was I, now?" Sephiroth asked with a frown. He looked almost in pain and Cloud couldn't help but have a very bad feeling about all this.

"I think so, because all those reports mentioned you in one way or another. I mean, why only leave the reports about you here, if it's not for you to stumble upon them? I wonder how you would have reacted if you had been alone here, while reading those horrible tales." he explained angrily, warming to the subject. Every time he thought about that bastard scientist, he felt the need to strangle. "Plus there is the fact that the reports were fakes."

"This is getting more unbelievable by the minute, Strife."

Cloud almost squeaked when Sephiroth said his name, but he managed to stop himself in time. He'd promised himself a while ago that he wouldn't behave like a hysterical fanboy.

"I know, I know. But this is Hojo we're talking about. He sounds so callous and fixated. Wouldn't you believe him capable of trying to twist your mind for his own agenda?"

Sephiroth stayed silent a moment, staring at nothing. Cloud knew that he was right – even if Vincent still wasn't convinced by his theory – and plowed on.

"Anyway, at the time, it didn't really matter, because I was the one reading the files, instead of you. It grossed me out and made me so angry," he remembered, grabbing the first report on the pile he had gathered with Vincent's help.

"So I kept on searching and reading every file, trying to get them back in order, and then I found the cache. Well, really, Vincent found it," Cloud corrected with a self-deprecating smile. "Freaky ex-Turk super power I say; I still don't understand what tipped him off. I mean, I walked right by it for years and never even suspected something was amiss!" Cloud whined for a second, with a fake glare at Vincent. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure these files were the real ones, 'coz I don't think Hojo would have gone to such lengths to hide something totally unworthy."

Sephiroth's eyes were almost burning right through his soul, or so that's how it felt. Cloud fidgeted, flustered, and took a deep, calming breath. "About the experiments themselves... – If we can really call them that. Hojo wasn't exactly the perfect scientist. I can't really tell what his point was, because he changed his mind several times during the research. He rarely followed through when he had an idea, which made it even harder to understand his reports."

However, deciphering Hojo's mind had been Cloud's main obsession these last few years. Cloud knew exactly what he was talking about, especially in regards to Project J.

Most of the information in those reports had been frightening for a teenager, but it concerned Sephiroth and the SOLDIERs. Cloud would readily admit that he was obsessed by Sephiroth, just like about half of the world's population.

That said, his social skills weren't exactly up to standard, not after spending years with only Vincent Valentine and a mother who was slowly losing touch with reality, for company.

That probably explained how and why he found himself crossing the room in two steps, releasing the straps binding the General's arms to the chair and sitting down on the armrest.

Cloud totally disregarded the mental voice currently screaming at him that he was a fool and a walking dead man and handed the files to the General.

"Here," he said, ignoring the General's stunned expression. "It began with an unknown specimen found in the North Crater, decades ago. At the time, Hojo wasn't even the head of the scientific department, but Professor Gast..."

TBC

* * *

Here is another one! ;p Hope you liked it.

By the way, I wanted to warn you that I intent to participate to NaNoWriMo again this year. I won't be work on an original novel or anything, but instead will try to write Guide's whole story in one go, so that I have only the beta-work left, come December :)

So there probably won't be another chapter published before December, as at least one of my beta-reader will be trying NNWM too :3

For those who don't know what's NaNoWriMo: www(dot)nanowrimo(dot)org(slash)whatisnano

(by the way, I'm not a monster: I won't berate you for asking a question or giving your opinion. However, if you don't log in, I won't answer you.)


	6. A Voice in his Head

**Title**: Guide

**Author**: Anyssia at Dreamwidth (dot) org**  
Character**/Pairing: Cloud, Zack, Sephiroth, Vincent. Eventually, Cloud/Zack/Seph  
**Fandom**/Spoilers: Final Fantasy VII, Meteor Crisis.  
**Genre**: adventure, what-if, slash  
**Disclaimer**: not mine or I would have killed Hojo a long time ago!  
**Status**: ch6/?, 2'700 words, 08/16/2011  
**Rating**: some violence, G  
**Beta**(s): Reader in the Corner and Jameva. All remaining mistakes are mine.

**Summary**: Nibelheim's reactor is due for a check-up and sixteen years old Cloud is hired to take the coming soldiers up the mountain.

_**Previously in Guide**_**:**  
_(quick, informal summary, because, really, I didn't even remember what I had written just before, so I can only imagine for my readers... ^^;;)_  
In the previous chapters, Sephiroth showed up unexpectedly in the basement of the ShinRa mansion while Vincent and Cloud were talking quietly. They talked a bit but something happened, Sephiroth went bat shit crazy and Cloud managed to clonk him on the head by sheer, dumb luck.  
When the General woke up, looking just a bit saner, the other two proceeded to explain what Hojo had done here and what he had left behind, with the help of the various reports that they had retrieved and sorted.  
Also, Cloud's young body was a bit too easily swayed by the General's beautiful green eyes, much to Cloud's eternal mortification. Just sayin' ;p

* * *

**Chapter 6 – A Voice in his Head**

* * *

"... so Hojo inseminated Vincent's ex-girlfriend -turned wife to the mad scientist- and used the child as a test subject. Apparently, he meant to observe the alien's reaction to a human fetus. Sometimes, though, I wonder if he didn't just use Lucrecia because she was already pregnant."

Vincent, silent until that point, suddenly spat his tea all over the table.

"What makes you think that, Cloud?" The ex-Turk asked, coughing hard enough to make the General wince in sympathy.

"I don't need to graduate from college to do the math," Cloud answered, rolling his eyes. "He wrote that Lucrecia gave birth a month early because of the Jenova cells," Cloud recalled, leaning forward on the armrest he was sitting on. "It wouldn't surprise me if she had given birth right when she was meant to. I'd bet my sword that Hojo knew of your affair with her and used your son in his experiments because it was convenient."

Cloud sat back with a satisfied smile as Vincent took some time to consider this new development. It wouldn't take too long, as he was sure that the man had already thought about this. After all, Cloud's interest had been piqued by several comments in the same files that Vincent had read.

He was also aware that the ex-Turk had re-read those particular files several times.

Now, as to how Sephiroth was taking this...

Sephiroth finally stopped staring at nothing and turned his cold green eyes to Cloud.

"You believe that Lucrecia lied to Hojo and made him believe that he was my father or that maybe even she wasn't aware of her pregnancy," the General interpreted hesitantly. "So Valentine might be my father, at least, genetically speaking."

Somewhat surprised that Sephiroth had spoken, as he hadn't said much the entire time Cloud was explaining the reports, Cloud only nodded before turning back toward Vincent.

"That would explain why Hojo seemed to have some personal grunge against you. I mean, from the way he hid all his valuable notes, I'd say that Hojo was as possessive as he was paranoid. I doubt that he'd take well to the discovery that his son was in fact fathered by one of his enemies turned experiment," Cloud explained with a shrug. This was more suppositions than facts and he was just mentioning it in passing, as he didn't have any proof. "Anyway, we'd need to do some tests to be sure but we probably couldn't trust the results. Both your bodies have been too heavily modified and experimented on."

Cloud looked down at the General to get an idea of his reaction and suddenly realized that he was still sitting on the man's chair. He blushed and wondered why Sephiroth hadn't told him off, before remembering the other SOLDIER that had come to Nibelheim. He had seemed very friendly; the General was probably used to his casual behavior. Or maybe his fans often took the liberty to intrude into his personal space.

Cloud frowned at himself, wondering if Sephiroth was just ignoring his behavior, like he would for a particularly annoying groupie or if he really didn't mind. The point was moot anyway, because he didn't feel like attracting attention to himself by moving away just now. The discussion was too important to let such petty concerns distract them.

Oblivious to Cloud's wandering thoughts, Sephiroth slowly relaxed back in his chair. He looked thoughtful and Cloud caught him staring pensively at Vincent. For the first time since he had come down to the basement, almost three hours ago, the General didn't look like he would snap at the slightest provocation.

It made Cloud think that maybe, just maybe, things might be all right after all.

Thus, Cloud was totally taken by surprise when he was suddenly and violently sent flying.

He fell against the bookshelf, hard enough that he barely had time to feel the pain before sliding down to the floor and fainting. The last thing he saw was Sephiroth, bent over in his chair, hands gripping his head like claws.

;;;

Cloud woke up to the sound of glass breaking. Startled, he jerked his head up and almost doubled over from the sharp pain that radiated from the back of his head. He stopped moving immediately, breathing slowly, trying to remember what had happened.

It didn't take him long to put two and two together, especially when he heard Sephiroth's voice coming from the other side of the room. Apparently, Sephiroth had lost control once again, if the enormous lump that he could feel at the back of his head was any indication.

They had been careless, thinking that it had been an isolated madness once Sephiroth seemed to be back in his right mind. The instant he had relaxed, something had seemed to take over his body, making him attack blindly. Or at least, that's how Cloud would have described it. Vincent always told him that he had an overactive imagination.

Thankfully, Cloud's movement didn't attract the General's attention. That in itself was enough to send warning bells ringing in Cloud's mind. He hoped that Vincent had managed to get away from the General, but he couldn't be sure as he still hadn't risked opening his eyes. He hadn't heard Vincent's voice yet, just Sephiroth's, shouting and raging. It wasn't helping him keep his calm or stay optimistic.

There were a few seconds of silence before Cloud heard papers rustling and the sound of heavy files thumping on the floor. He grimaced, thinking back to the long hours he had spent sorting out everything.

Cloud took a shuddering breath while still trying to keep quiet before half-opening an eye.

The room looked as if a tornado had ravaged it. Papers were strewn all over the place and furniture was knocked over.

Sephiroth stood in a corner, one hand holding his head and the other gripping one of the few bookcase still standing as if he was afraid of falling over. He was muttering to himself, low and indistinct. He hadn't even taken the time to tie up Cloud and Vincent.

Cloud hesitated and stared at him a little longer, trying to decide what he should do while thanking any deity who might be hearing him that the General didn't look particularly concerned about his perceived enemies' actions.

The man groaned suddenly, let out a sound that was almost a whine, and dropped to his knees. He didn't even try to get back up, kneeling on the floor and gripping his head as if he was afraid that it would fall off of his shoulders.

Taking advantage of Sephiroth's distraction, Cloud slowly looked around the room as much as he could, taking care to move only his eyes and not his body.

There, a pool of red.

A wave of cold sweat broke out all over his body, his heart suddenly trying to jump out of his chest. Cloud almost whimpered in desperation before his brain caught up with his instincts. Several slow, even breaths saved him from hyperventilating like a rookie, even as it gave him some time to realize that the red wasn't blood but simply Vincent's damn showy cloak. The young man swallowed the hysterical sob that was working its way out of his throat and shivered in relief.

On the other side of the room, Sephiroth yelled something unintelligible, making Cloud jump in fright.

Cloud brought his attention back to the General, trying to understand what the heck was going on.

Sephiroth was muttering again. Cloud couldn't hear half of what he was saying, but what he did pick up didn't particularly make sense.

Sephiroth grabbed papers at random, reading a paragraph here and there, throwing the rest to the side. "Created. I was created using the knowledge of the Cetras!" He half-growled, half-screamed.

Then he jumped back on his feet, banging his head against a shelf and quoting Cloud's earlier words. "Hojo inseminated Vincent's ex-girlfriend... Vincent could be my father... No Cetras, only Jenova... But she isn't a human being, she doesn't matter, she's not controlling me..." He repeated, becoming more frantic by the second, as if he were trying to convince himself.

Cloud decided that, sometimes, he would rather be wrong.

;;;

Sephiroth continued arguing with himself for what seemed to be hours.

Afraid that he would be skewered if he made a wrong move, Cloud stayed silent and motionless. His body was growing numb, lying on the cold, damp floor, and his head was throbbing in time with his heartbeat.

Even so, he listened to the man's one-sided debate, mentally crossing his fingers. He could only hope that Sephiroth would manage to keep his mind on the right track.

The one-sided argument seemed to be running in circles. Sephiroth ranted aloud, beginning a sentence then switching to another subject in the same breath. He stopped talking for long periods at times before suddenly yelling a word or two which didn't make any sense. Cloud thought that it was a bit like listening to a drowning man; from time to time the General's old personality surfaced a few seconds but it was steadily being battered down until he didn't seem to be able to resist anymore.

Cloud stared, sick and horrified, as a part of Sephiroth appeared to be pushing him to lose his calm and to break everything in sight. One moment he was yelling that he was superior to all other life forms, almighty and omnipotent, the next he was muttering about experimentations and scientists, quoting verbatim the descriptions that Cloud had given him earlier about his childhood as a lab rat. The mention that Sephiroth had only made it to ShinRa's top five because he had been a quiet baby and an obedient pawn for Hojo's pleasure came up several times during the argument.

Sometimes, Sephiroth just stopped. Stopped moving, stopped talking, stopped breathing.

Those long blank minutes were the worst, because he looked like a living, empty body, or maybe a puppet. Cloud realized that he stopped breathing as well, during those attacks.

Cloud felt powerless and weak, knowing that he was utterly out of his league in this fight and scared out of his mind by this new twist. He could only clutch at the vague thought that, as a military man, Sephiroth should be trained to recognize signs of mental attacks and brainwashing. Maybe it would be enough to keep him from losing it totally.

;;;

It was maybe thirty minutes since Sephiroth had lost his mind, even if it seemed as if it had been hours ago already, but Cloud still couldn't move. Between the various punches he had taken in the last twenty-four hours, the lack of sleep and his current position on the unforgiving basement floor, his body was sore and tense to the point that he couldn't open his fist, much less even think about dragging himself behind the relative protection of a nearby armchair.

Of course, the deep seated fear that any movement of his would set off Sephiroth didn't help him relax at all.

Another glance at the mixed papers that Sephiroth had thrown around convinced him that he had done well to hide Hojo's more sensitive reports. Through the years, the scientist had become less and less coherent and unbiased. In his last files, the man had been writing of Project J as though it would revolutionize mankind.

Beginning as a simple specimen, Sephiroth had risen to the rank of prototype in Hojo's mind. Cloud had been horrified when he realized that this madman wasn't studying Sephiroth's development anymore, but improving him in the hope of creating a creature as close to being a god as possible.

After a few years, Hojo had even tried to create another 'Sephiroth', but neither his own experiments, nor natural sexual reproduction had given him a second puppet. After several failures, Hojo had apparently decided to abandon this line of research. From his comments, Cloud had deduced that the madman had moved to Midgar to try again, but this time by combining Jenova with Shinra's grunts. Soon after, the first SOLDIERs had been created.

If Sephiroth had found those monstrous reports, Cloud had little doubt that the man would have broken down completely, without fighting back against whatever was going on inside his head, be it a very real enemy attack or simply his own mental state taking a turn for worse.

That said, Vincent could doubt all he wanted, Cloud was more persuaded than ever that Jenova's body was still stored up in the reactor. He had no doubt that she was responsible, one way or another, for the General's current insanity. After all, Sephiroth's behavior had begun changing right after checking the building.

They had to find a way to destroy the creature, to stop the General from going crazy.

Well, they would have to do it once they found a way to get out of here in one piece. This would be a great time for the other SOLDIER to get here and help them...

Cloud waited a minute in hope, holding his breath, his eyes firmly closed. He probably looked like a child with bowel troubles right now, but he couldn't care less.

After a moment he opened an eye, focusing on the door, his feeble hope already fading. He rolled his eyes at himself when nothing came. Such coincidences only happened in dreams and to other people. If this were a movie, he would have prayed for Fair to come to the rescue and _tada_! the SOLDIER would have barged in right that instant.

Of course, something like that would never happen to Cloud.

Annoyed by his own foolishness, Cloud brought his attention back to Sephiroth.

The man's voice had lost its strength in the last few minutes. Even his body was becoming less and less coordinated and he had let out a few distressing moans.

Worry almost made Cloud go to his aid but he stopped himself at the last moment. If Sephiroth were to attack him now, with Masamune still in hand, he would be skewered before he even got to his knees. The SOLDIER would probably react instinctively, as he was almost too far gone to be aware of what was going on around him.

As Cloud was imagining all the ways in which Sephiroth could kill him – and now he was sure that he did have a concussion –, the General fell to his knees like a stone.

Sephiroth threw back his head and let out a scream, his voice so tortured and full of pain that Cloud felt his eyes water.

Throwing caution to the wind, Cloud pushed himself off the floor, wincing and crying openly in pain, before crossing the room as quickly as he could on all fours. Just as he got close to the SOLDIER, the man collapsed heavily on his side and Cloud barely managed to keep him from banging his head on the stone floor.

Cloud stared down at the unresponsive form, his hand tangled in long, silver locks. He was too shocked to think at first, but soon came back to his senses, his survival instinct kicking him back into movement.

Cloud glance around quickly, taking a second to force his nausea back down at the sudden move, before pushing the General's sword with a foot, hard enough to make it roll away.

Vincent chose this moment to jump up, apparently none the worse for wear, and he silently slipped the weapon under a bookshelf.

A quiet groan from the General brought Cloud's attention back to him in a hurry. The man convulsed a couple of times, moaning in pain, before going limp in Cloud's arms, his eyes staring at the ceiling unblinkingly.

Cloud called out Sephiroth's name several times, shaking him roughly as panic set in, but Sephiroth didn't react to any of his efforts. He just lay there, staring at nothing, his pupils so dilated that they almost hid his Mako green irises.

TBC

_Sorry for the long wait (and for the cliffhanger ^^;;;). Hope you liked this chapter! :)_


	7. Notice: Moving to AO3

2012/07/18

WARNING: THIS ACCOUNT WILL NOT BE UPDATED ANYMORE. I DO NOT AGREE WITH FANFICTION DOT NET'S CONSTANT RULES CHANGING NOR WITH THE WAY THEY ARE BRINGING SOCIAL NETWORKS (TWITTER/FACEBOOK) TO FANDOM.

In consequence, I'll leave my current work here, because I like having my old reviews and stats available (yes, I'm shallow like that :D Some of us are ;) ), but any new fanfics/chapters will be posted on my journal and AO3 account.

* * *

So, from now on, you'll find my fics either here: **anyssia dot dreamwidth dot org**

or here: **archiveofourown dot org slash users slash anyssia**

* * *

I hope that you'll continue to follow me and read my stories.

See ya, people!

Anyssia :)


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